Stagecoach has been selected to operate the franchised bus network based in St Helens while Go-Ahead will operates services in Wirral Mayor Steve Rotheram: buses aren’t a ‘nice to have’ – they’re a lifeline Stagecoach and Go-Ahead Group have been selected as the first operators to run the...
Dubai will host the UITP Summit on April 21-23. We spoke to UITP’s secretary general, Mohamed Mezghani, about the event and what visitors can look forward to Mohamed Mezghani: “For me, the Summit is about people” Mohamed, the UITP Summit is heading to Dubai in April, less than...
What’s inside the latest edition of Passenger Transport: LEAD STORY NPR rail improvements ‘will actually happen’ More than a decade after the Northern Powerhouse Rail project was first proposed, the government has unveiled a three-phase plan for its delivery NEWS Cornwall probes bus regulation options Market engagement...
More than a decade after the Northern Powerhouse Rail project was first proposed, the government has unveiled a three-phase plan for its delivery The plans would see Manchester Piccadilly expanded A three-phase plan for the long-promised Northern Powerhouse Rail project was unveiled by the government this week. The...
Labour has pledged an enhanced bus offer for Wales if it wins this May’s Senedd election, but will this be matched funding? Rhodri Clark reports Welsh bus fares for adults aged 22 to 59 would be capped at £2 Labour has pledged 100 more bus routes in Wales...
A new report by CMAC has shed light on an often overlooked but frequent aspect of the railway’s customer service proposition 2026 has already brought two major shocks. FA Cup holders, my beloved, Crystal Palace, being knocked out of this year’s tournament by non-league Macclesfield, 117 places below...
Those taking decisions should always put themselves in the shoes of the passenger and ask whether what they will think reasonable Average bus speeds in central London are now down to 7.4mph (picture: Shutterstock) It was interesting to see the latest figures for bus passenger numbers (PT351)....
Party says that its plan will allow 250 million more bus passenger journeys a year, but ‘it will require no additional central government spending’ Labour launched its plans in the West Midlands. Left to right: Angela Rayner, Richard Parker and Louise Haigh Labour has promised to help local authorities to introduce bus franchising...
Polls suggest Labour’s Richard Parker will win mayoral election Labour’s launch event was hosted by National Express West Midlands Labour’s candidate in next month’s West Midlands mayoral election has pledged to bring bus services back under public control if he wins power on May 2. The Labour Party chose the West Midlands as...
Order for 10 new trains could solve Alstom order desert Harper (right) met Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge this week Rolling stock manufacturer Alstom has confirmed that it is in “intense discussions” with transport secretary Mark Harper about the future of its Derby plant and a potential order for additional rolling stock for the...
You won’t persuade me to join you on a camping holiday, but many others enjoy it – and bus companies should make a pitch for them A West Coast Motors bus photographed by the editor on a detour into Port Ban Holiday Park, Argyll and Bute I was so unhappy I cried myself...
The Scottish Government’s Fair Fares Review has grabbed headlines but it cannot address the biggest transport challenges The launch of the £500m Bus Partnership Fund in 2019. It has now been paused BY Paul White “Continued delays to the updated climate change plan and further slippage in promised climate policies mean that the...
London subsidiary of Singapore-based ComfortDelGro has won four Tranche 3 bus franchises in Greater Manchester, boosting its size by 30% Metroline’s contracts are worth £422m and comprise a total of 232 services, 420 buses and over 1,350 employees Metroline has been revealed as the big winner in the third and final round of...
Former Virgin executive Will Whitehorn tells Lunch with Leon podcast why he believes that Britain’s railway is ‘back in a mode of managed decline’ Whitehorn says there is no doubt that Virgin’s tenure of the West Coast route was a success Will Whitehorn, a close colleague of Sir Richard Branson throughout the nineties and much...
There’s nothing new about the concept of avoiding traffic by travelling overhead, but flying taxis could take this to another level What impact will air taxis have? Congestion: here is an issue to unite everyone from the extreme petrol heads through to the greenest environmentalist. Nobody benefits from this, not the motorists...
The Your Bus Journey survey of bus users by Transport Focus provides insights and a league table we should all care about Levels of bus users satisfaction were high in East Yorkshire Who was surprised by the Transport Focus ‘Your Bus Journey’ scores? I certainly wasn’t and felt faintly reassured by the results...
The Grand Paris Express is potentially the most important and transformational urban mobility project underway in Europe The Grand Paris Express transport project I was in Paris, France for the Autonomy Mobility World Expo conference late last month. As an addition to the conference I was able to book a guided visit...
The National Bus Strategy says bus lanes ‘should be full time’ but new guidance from DfT says they should ‘only operate when it makes sense’ The National Bus Strategy for England declared ‘bus lanes should be full-time’ In the week that marked the third anniversary of the publication of Bus Back Better, its...
A new report by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has concluded that bus franchising is the only option to stem long-term network decline BY Andrew Garnett Strathclyde could become the first region in Scotland to franchise its bus network after Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) members approved plans for a consultation about the...
Happy campers are potential bus users